Vodacom fights back in South African network quality rankings
MyBroadband Insights has released its Q2 2025 Mobile Network Quality Report, showing that Cell C has retained second place ranking from last quarter, with MTN claiming top spot.
The report is based on 304,489 speed tests conducted by 6,105 mobile devices nationwide between 1 April and 30 June 2025.
To conduct these tests, MyBroadband Insights travelled 20,000km and tested networks in South Africa’s major cities, towns, and roads.
The testing included crowdsourced data and dedicated drive tests, providing a comprehensive assessment of mobile network performance.
The crowdsourced data was collected from users with various types of smartphones, while the Insights team used dedicated high-end and mid-range smartphones.
MTN dominated the overall network performance and consistently outperformed its competitors across most metrics.
It recorded the highest average download speed at 92.66 Mbps, followed by Vodacom at 71.06 Mbps, Cell C at 64.63 Mbps, Telkom at 46.9 Mbps, and Rain at 22.2 Mbps.
MTN was also the top-performing network in major South African metros, including Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Cape Town, Johannesburg, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Mangaung.
Its strong performance can be attributed to continued investment in network infrastructure for both LTE and 5G networks.
MTN announced earlier this year that it would cut capital expenditure by between R3.1 and R4.1 billion as it emerged from a period of intensive investment on backup batteries and generators following severe power cuts.
Cell C made headlines in the Q1 2025 report by overtaking Vodacom and clinching second place, a position it has retained.
However, its network quality score dropped from its previous 8.07 rating, while Vodacom’s score increased from 7.21.
To determine the best mobile network in South Africa, each network is given a Network Quality Score based on download speed, upload speed, and latency.
The Network Quality Score out of 10 then shows how a network performed in relation to other networks.
MTN came in first place with a Network Quality Score of 9.92, followed by Cell C at 7.69, Vodacom at 7.43, Telkom at 5.79, and Rain at 3.98.
The table below provides an overview of the mobile network rankings in South Africa.
| Operator | Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) | Network Quality Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTN | 92.66 | 30.55 | 30 | 9.92 |
| Cell C | 64.63 | 29.63 | 27 | 7.69 |
| Vodacom | 71.06 | 14.62 | 31 | 7.43 |
| Telkom | 46.9 | 11.49 | 29 | 5.79 |
| Rain | 22.2 | 11.08 | 32 | 3.98 |
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